The Ducky Tie

It was a typical Friday night— Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew were all crammed into their usual booth at The Three Broomsticks. The three of them were chatting about how their week had been, when James and Lily arrived.

"Hey, what do you guys think of my new ducky tie? Bloody brilliant, isn't it?" James says, with a crooked smile. And then, with a pointed glance at his wife, "And not that much more expensive than a regular tie."

"James, mate, why do you do this? Why do you do this, when you know I must take the piss? I am but a mere man, Prongs, and a ducky tie? Honestly Progsie, you're not even a dad yet, and you've gone full dad. And ducks?—" Remus cuts Sirius off, before he can continue with his tirade. The former Heir to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black was, in general, unbothered by weird fashion choices. In fact, Remus knows Sirius is very passionate about men being able to experiment with fashion (as evidenced by his hour-long tirade the other week, criticizing all of the men who wore black tuxes to the Met Gala, while simultaneously prattling on about Fredrik Robertsson ('God, Moons, how bloody brilliant was that design?') and Sebastian Stan ('It's wasn't really on theme, but I will never criticize a man for wearing something that isn't a boring tux.'), which led to another forty minutes of Sirius talking about other looks from the Met Gala of years past— twenty minutes of which consisted of Sirius gushing about Blake Lively and the dress she wore at the 2018 Met Gala ('Moony, she is a goddess, an actual goddess, and dear God, mate, we aren't worthy.') , and then forty minutes talking about Shawn Mendez and Pete Davidson, and 'Moony, more men need to wear dresses— or at the very least a skirt, I'd even settle for a tux that isn't black, but maybe with a bit of glitter or something, feathers? Anything, Moons.'

"Oh, guess who I ran into?" Remus asked, hoping to distract Padfoot from James' very ostentatious ducky tie.

Peter, turned to the brunette, "Who?"

"Well, it was someone from my past—"

"Caradoc Dearborn?"

"Benjy Fenwick?"

"Frank Longbottom?"

"Mary MacDonald?"

"The guy who ruined your picture with Pete Wentz?"

"The girl who made you get a butterfly tattoo?"

"Guys, you make it sound like I'm a total slag, no. Perhaps I need to be a little more specific. I met this guy at a wedding, and we were together for awhile, but then he moved to Germany. We decided to try long distance, but it didn't work, because I cheated on him with someone at this very table."

"OH!" James' eyes went wide, "Fabian." Remus was pointedly not looking at Sirius, but if he had been, he would have seen his face darken for a moment, before Sirius managed regain his composure, as he forced himself to adopt a look of stony indifference. Remus also pointedly did not notice James shoot a worried glance in Sirius' direction. Remus also remained oblivious as Sirius drained the rest of his drink, and waived the server over to order another.

"Yes, Fabian. He was at Molly and Arthur's wedding, which I suppose shouldn't have been a surprise, since he's her older brother and all, but I guess I hadn't really thought about that." Sirius grimaced, feeling a slight pang in his chest, again, 'At Molly and Arthur's wedding? Moony didn't mention seeing Prewett to me.' Of course, Sirius has seen Fabian, as well as his twin brother, Gideon, but Sirius hadn't realized the two of them had spoken. Remus and Sirius had been the only two to attend the Weasley's wedding, as James and Lily had unfortunately been unable to attend, as they were busy been spending time with Effie and Monty, who had been doing poorly at the time. Sirius likely would have gone with the Potters, as Effie and Monty were, for all intents and purposes, his parents just as much as they were James', having taken Sirius in at sixteen, after he had been disinherited. But Remus had convinced Sirius to tag along to the wedding, not wanting to intrude on James' time with his parents, since he wasn't as close with the elder Potters as Sirius (Which, really Moony, is absolutely ridiculous, Effie and Monty love you. Hell, I think you had me and James beat as their favorite son. I still don't think they've gotten over our break up.' The 'And neither have I,' was left unspoken.). But Sirius, who had never really been able to deny Remus anything, agreed to go with him, though Remus made it painfully clear that it was strictly platonic (C'mon Pads, please, I don't want to go alone, and it we'd just be going as friends, obviously it wouldn't be a date, but I really don't want to go by myself.) And Peter, for whatever reason, had not received an invitation, a fact which he tried not to think about too much.

"Wow," James started cautiously, "I mean, it's been like, what, six years?"

"Yeah, it's funny—" Remus started to say, before Sirius interjected suddenly,"God, Lils, what's going on with your tits?" Lily, who was an amazing friend, thank you very much, Sirius, and was very much aware of what Sirius was up to, took the bait, and pushed up her cleavage just a bit, "Oh, these old things?" feigning a casual tone, "I got my pregnancy boobs! I'm in that sweet spot where my chestal knows I'm pregnant, but hasn't told the downstairs neighbors."

"Oi, Lils, what are you waiting for, bust 'em out." Sirius, very much reverting to his Year 11 and 12 self, all false bravado, and would flirt with anything that so-much as breathed in his direction.

"Sorry, mate, but the party in my wife's sweater is a private event, and I'm the bouncer." James said, mostly jokingly, knowing his brother all too well.

"I think they're the bouncers, Prongsie," Sirius said, wiggling his eyebrows, in a positively lascivious manner.

"Okay, can we please stop talking about my wife's breasts, please?"

And much to Sirius' chagrin, Peter took that exact moment to remember the topic that preceded the conversation about Lily's breasts, "Oi, Remus ran into Fabian!"

"Yes, I'm still a little shaken by it, to be quite honest. I mean, there he was after all these years, and I guess it just stirred up a lot of emotions and memories..." Remus trailed off.

Once again, Sirius, who very much did not care about bloody Fabian Prewett, tried to steer the conversation in a different direction "God, Lily, it's like you have a butt on your chest." Sirius then started to make some ridiculous, and very crude gestures.

"Okay! Who wants dinner?" James raised his voice, just slightly, to ensure that he got everyone's attention, "Right, lets—" James was interrupted by Sirius, who sneezed. And suddenly, James was craving Habachi.

"How about Shinjitsu?"

"Really," Sirius groaned," again? We go once a month, at least," he whinged.

"It's hibachi grilling with a vaudeville twist— it's brilliant, come on, who's in?" Remus, Lily, and Peter just sort of murmur their general assent ("Sure, sounds good," and " 's fine with me") But Sirius was still complaining.

"Fine, how about this, if you can go twenty seconds without looking at Lily's boobs, you can choose where we eat Pads."
Sirius, who was incapable of turning down a challenge, especially from his brother, "Deal." James tried not to think about how very much Sirius looked like his other brother, Regulus, in that moment. With his posh accent, and his aristocratic features, and his piercing gray eyes. Sirius had always been a bit vain, but especially after he moved in with the Potter's at the beginning of Sixth Form, he had become very invested in re-inventing his style (perhaps, as a form of rebellion against the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, even though he really could care less about what Orion and Walburga thought, and figured they didn't much care about their former firstborn child, who they had discarded without a second thought after they caught wind of the rumors about Sirius' bisexuality.) Sirius had grown out his hair, pierced his ears (lobes, a helix, and a conch), started wearing eyeliner, and clunky rings ('They make me look punk rock, Prongs.'), nail polish, a leather jacket, ripped jeans, band shirts, and Doc Martens platform boots that would have had Walburga Black rolling in her grave (even though the she-witch stubbornly had not yet died), and the likes. But every so often, Sirius would say something, or make a face, that reminded James of Sirius' biological family. The Black genes were strong.

Sirius pointedly looked into James eyes for all of about five seconds, before Lily (totally-not-on-purpose) crossed her arms, pushing her clevage up just a tad.

"Damn it!" Sirius exclaimed. And so the five of them got up, paid their tab, and then made their way to Shinjitsu.

Once seated, Sirius had to exercise a sirius amount of self restraint, so that he didn't throttle Peter, when he once again remembered that Remus had been telling them about seeing Fabian again, "Oi, Remus, so you saw Fabian. Was it weird?"

"No, it was fine. I mean..."

"Oh my God, Remus Lupin, is that you? Remus spun around, nearly spilling the whiskey he was holding all over his former boyfriend. It had been nearly seven years, but Fabian looked just as gorgeous. 'And did he somehow get more attractive,' Remus wondered internally, 'he had aged like a fine wine.' Remus barely managed not to make a complete arse of himself, stammering out a, "Oh, Fabian, hi. How have you been? Wasn't expecting to see you here." 'Because I thought you were in Germany,' Remus pointedly did not add. Fabian did not seem to notice that Remus was internally freaking out. His heart was beating erratically, and, had it gotten warmer? He hoped that Fabian would think that he was just a little pissed, and not that he was blushing because he was completely unprepared to see his most-serious long-term relationship and ex-boyfriend who he had dated for nearly three years, and had thought maybe he might have said 'Yes' to, if Fabian had presented him with a ring. Maybe.

"Yeah, uhm, I moved back to London a little bit ago, or well, temporarily moved back for work at least. And of course, I couldn't miss my little sister getting married. Not that I would have, but you know what she's like, she would have cut my bollocks off if I didn't come home for her wedding." 'Of course,' Remus smacked himself internally, 'how could you be so stupid, Lupin, forgetting that Fabian is the bride's older brother, and most certainly would not miss her big day.'

"Right, of course." And then, the words were tumbling out of Remus' mouth before he could stop them, "I'm sorry about uh, well, everything!" Fabian's expression shifted into a somewhat tighter, expression, "Ehm, right, well, water under the bridge and all that, right? I mean it's been six years and all. It would be a little silly to still be upset about all of that, I suppose."

"Right, water under the bridge. I mean, it was James' fault anyway, he got me pissed. But, right, water under the bridge." And once again, Remus' brain-to-mouth filter had stopped working, and he was a fucking moron, "Oi, actually Sirius is around here somewhere." Fabian's grimaced.

"Ah, well I'm very happy that you two sorted things out, Sirius always looked at you like you hung the moon." Contrary to what he was saying, Fabian did not sound all that happy about it.

"Oh! I mean, we're not together. Or I mean we're not here together. Actually, we're not together-together either. I mean we did, date that is, briefly," Remus knew he was rambling, "but uh, we stopped. Dating that is. We broke up, uh, a bit ago now. But we're just mates now. Or again I suppose. Just friends. It's not weird, between us anymore," Remus cringed at how awkward and unsure he sounded. But Fabian, who was always very good at pushing past Remus' anxiety, didn't seem perturbed.

"Right, you guys were friends for so long before all of that started, so of course things wouldn't be weird after, I mean, Sirius isn't the type to...I mean I know he's still friends with McKinnon and all, and you two were much closer... and I suppose you probably don't see each other as much anymore..."

"Oh, we do."

"Oh, well", Fabian seemed surprised at that, "good for you, I don't know if I could hand out with my ex all the time."

"Well, you know Sirius. Like you said, he still hangs out with Marlene a fair amount. Actually, he and I went out with her and Dorcas just last week, but I dunno, I think Sirius is friendly with most of his exes. But enough about him, I really didn't even mean to bring him up. I guess I just wanted to apologize for, well, everything." At that, Fabian smiled, just a little.

"Water under the bridge, Lupin. Like I said," and then," oh, Molly was telling me about this nice little bistro that she went to with Arthur the other week, we should go sometime," Fabian said casually, as if it were a completely normal thing to say to an ex-boyfriend, "but they have great chocolate eclairs. I remember you used loved chocolate so much, I wasn't entirely convinced who you loved more, me or chocolate." Fabian was grinning like a fool, as he said that last bit. And Remus tried to stamp out the little flicker of hope in his chest, because there was no way that Fabian really meant it. Fabian was just being polite, doing that thing when you see someone you haven't seen in ages, saying 'Let's catch up soon,' but purposefully leaving things up in the air with no intention of actually reaching out and making plans afterwards.

"Hah, right, well, chocolate cures everything." Remus said, though his voice was void of the lighthearted humor he was trying to force. It was at that moment that Fabian's phone started to buzz, he paused for a moment, before glancing at the screen, "Oh, sorry, I need to take this. It's my assistant, but hey, is your number still the same, we ought to catch up more while I'm in town?" Remus nodded dumbly, not quite sure if he was dreaming or not— 'Perhaps later I should ask Padfoot to smack me over the head, to make sure I'm not imagining things.' Remus thought to himself.

"Good seeing you Remus!" Fabian called out, as he hurried off to find a quiet place to answer his phone.

"Well shit, Remus," Peter exclaimed, "d'ya think he was serious"— "Sirius, don't," Peter glared at the man, before continuing, "or was he just being polite? You know, saying that he wants to catch up but then not following up?"

"Well, that's the thing, he texted me on Saturday, and we met after he finished up at work." Sirius had wondered what Moony had been up to last weekend— he had stopped by with their usual Saturday night dinner, takeout from Remus' favorite Thai restaurant, and let himself into Remus' flat, using the key Remus had given him ages ago and had not asked Sirius to return, before Sirius finally realized the man was not home. He didn't remember Remus saying anything about having plans, and he wasn't sure whether he should stay and wait up for Remus or if that would be too weird since they weren't together anymore, and so he decided to go see James and Lily, as he wasn't particularly keen about going back to his own flat, and James and Lily's brownstone wasn't all that far away.

James, bless him, interrupted his friend's conversation," Oi, lads, as much as I would love to discuss Moony's love life, let's show the artist a little respect, and then we can continue gossiping all about Remus and Fabian's torrid love affair."

"Artist?" Sirius scoffed, and then turned to the chef standing behind the hibachi grill, "Oi, mate, I'm very sorry for what I'm about to do." Sirius, a true drama-queen at heart, started doing an exaggerated impression of the hibachi chef. "Oh, Welcome to Shinjistu! Uh! I used to be a night manager at Dairy Queen! Watch as I demonstrate this completely useless skill I learned to impress women, which is really just basic physics from First form with this onion volcano!" James grimaced, his brother really could be a right prick sometimes, especially when he was in a mood, particularly where Remus was somehow involved in his poor mood.

"Oi, Pads, lay off. You're all bark, and no bite, mate. You're being rude, Euphemia Potter did not raise you to be such a prick, and she would wallop you over the head if she were here," James reprimanded his brother lightly. Sirius was much better than he used to be, but sometimes, his Black upbringing reared its ugly head. When he wanted to be, Sirius could be especially cruel. After all, he was the former heir to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, and (perhaps as somewhat of a defense mechanism) Sirius could very easily pinpoint a person's weaknesses and inflict deep-cutting wounds with a venomous tongue and not a trace of remorse. James knew that his brother tried very hard to be better, to unlearn the cruelty and expel the poison from his heart, the lessons that Walburga and Orion had desperately tried to instill in their first-born son, but he was only so strong, and he hated feeling vulnerable, he heard his mother whispering in his ear, ' Weak. Soft. Disappointing. A disgrace. An embarrassing footnote in the illustrious history of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black.'

"If it's so easy, Padfoot, why don't you do it then? The onion volcano, the fried rice beating heart, the shrimp in the pocket?"

"Oh Prognsie, don't threaten me with a good time. Just name the time and place, and I'll show you just how easy it is."

"Yeah, Pads? How about right here, after we eat?"

"Deal, what do I get if I can do it all?" Sirius narrowed his eyes at his brother.

"What do you want?" James held Sirius' gaze.

"I want to touch Lily's boobs." Sirius declared. Without hesitation, James responded, "Deal." James Fleamont Potter had matured significantly since Sixth Form. Lily Evans Potter wouldn't have married him if he hadn't, but, nevertheless, James still had his moments. Realizing what he had just agreed to, he turned to his wife, with a sheepish expression on his face, "Hey, love?" Lily, feigned an exasperated expression, although if she was completely honest with herself, she was mildly amused.

"Yes, James, I heard," she turned to Sirius, "Alright Black, let's make a deal. If you can do everything that James just listed off, I will let you touch one boob."

"Both boobs," Sirius countered.

"Just one." Lily glared.

"Touch and squeeze."

"Just touch."

"Touch and motorboat."

"Just touch."

"Honka honka?"

"Sirius."

"Fine, just touch." He conceded.

"Just touch." Lily agreed, with a self-satisfied look.

"For one hour." Lily rolled her eyes.

"For one second." Lily countered.

"Twenty minutes, both boobs."

"Thirty seconds, one boob."

"Four minutes, both boobs, three squeezes."

"One minute, both boobs, one squeeze. Final offer, take it or leave it Black." Lily crossed her arms.

"Deal!"

"But... if you can't do everything, and I mean everything, then you have to wear James' ducky tie to the next Gala at the firm. All evening." Sirius grimaced, but nevertheless extended his hand to Lily, "Deal." They shook on it. Of course, Peter, at that moment, decided to once again bring up Fabian bloody Prewett, "Oi, Sirius trying to see Lily's boobs is old news, he's been very vocal about how he's wanted to see them since Sixth Form. Remus was telling us about seeing Fabian again." Sirius' face turned murderous, not that Remus seemed to notice.

"Right...so we met up on Saturday..."

A plate of eclairs sat on the table between the two of them. Fabian had also insisted on ordering ice cream, because 'The ice cream is made fresh, every day, you have to try some Remus.' And so Remus found himself scooping chocolate ice-cream from a paper cup, and trying not to moan, because 'Dammit, Fabian wasn't wrong, this place was amazing. He'd have to bring Sirius sometime.' Remus, admittedly, was having trouble listening to Fabian, until, "...and with the wedding coming up..." Remus' head snapped up, and now Fabian had his full attention.

"Wedding?" Remus interrupted him, unable to help himself.

"Ah, yes, didn't I mention? I'm getting married. I really didn't mention," and then his eyes widened, "Oh, Remus, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to... I mean, I hope you didn't think that this was me trying to start something up again," and apparently Remus' face was very easy to read,"Oh no, you did, I'm sorry Remus. I just thought it would be nice to catch up after all this time."

"No, no, it is. I didn't think...or I mean, maybe I did, I wasn't sure, but I don't know. Maybe slap on a ring next time?" Remus tried to joke.

"Ah, well, I haven't actually asked her yet. I mean, I was planning to, but then Molly announced that she was getting married, and I din't want to step on her toes or anything. But now that the wedding has passed..." Fabian trailed off for a moment, "I was planning to bring her, actually, but she couldn't get the time off from work. She's an architect. But, yeah, I figured that since Molly has actually gone through with the wedding now, I'd ask her when I got back."

"Well, Congratulations," Remus tried to sound like he didn't feel like his heart had just gotten stomped on.

James interrupted, "Babe, I think I accidentally picked up your drink," he took the one in his hand, and switched it with the glass sitting in front of Lily.

Sirius smirked, "Oh, no, that's mine. You know, I don't know why people think that Mai Tais need booze. I've been drinking virgins all night, and they're delicious."

"Right mate, well, enjoy your Mai Tai because you're going to be wearing my ducky tie to the next Gala at the firm," James turned to his wife, "Our future child is so lucky," and then Sirius' words finally registered. "Wait. You're not drunk?" Sirius's grin grew even bigger, like the Cheshire Cat, "Huh. I guess not," he said, with a feigned innocence.

"Fuck, he's going to win the bet!" Lily crossed her arms.

"Baby, come on. Even if he was sober as a nun, there's no way he could do what these guys do." James tried to placate her.

"Exactly. I mean, to learn the trademark secrets of Shinjitsu hibachi cooking, one would have to go all the way to Glasgow, Scotland. Did you know that they have a school there? It's a six-month course.They teach you everything." Sirius was still grinning like a madman.

"How do you know that?" Remus asked, with one eyebrow raised.

"Maybe I looked it up on my phone just now. Then again, maybe not." Sirius replied in his much-too-cocky-for-his-own-good way.

But of course, Peter is a horrible no good friend, and Sirius is a saint for not having throttled him sooner.

"Oi, Remus, you were saying, though, about Fabian getting married?" Pulling Remus' attention away from Sirius.

"Yes, he was getting ready to propose, at least..."

"Thanks," Fabian smiled at Remus, and perhaps it was Remus' imagination, but he thought that the smile was a bit forced, "Right, well, it was nice catching up Rem, it really was, but I actually have a flight to catch soon. So I ought to get going." And how the hell had it escaped Remus' attention that at Fabian's feet was a small, brown suitcase?

"Ah, of course, are you taking the tube, or—"

"I was going to catch a cab. I think it should be on it's way soon," he waved his phone, a cab-service app pulled up.

"Right, well, I suppose I could wait with you for a moment until it arrives."

"Sure," once again, Remus thought that Fabian sounded a bit...sad? Wistful? The two of them made their way out to the kerb, and Remus leaned against a post as they waited.

"So, who's the lucky bird?" Remus, asked, trying to break the awkward silence they had fallen into.

"Oh, uh Emmeline."

"Emmeline? Wasn't there an Emmeline that you were working with? When you were in Germany, and we were still trying to do the whole-long distance thing?"

It was Fabian's turn to look sheepish, "There was an Emmeline I was working with. She was one of the architects for the project."

"Right, I remember now, and you two were close weren't you?" Echos of long-forgotten arguments started ringing in his ears.

"Not that close."

"No, I definitely remember now. You and Emmeline were pretty close. Everytime I called, you mentioned 'Emmy.'"

"Alright, we were kind of close."

"Is she the same Emmeline that you're planning to propose to?" Fabian's face said it all, "You didn't cheat on me with Emmeline, did you Fabian?”

"No. No, I did not." But there was something about the way Fabian said this, that caused Remus to continue to press.

"Alright, new question. After we broke up, how long were you single before you and Emmeline started dating?"

"Oh, how long... um, well, we broke up in April, so...a day and a half."

"Oi, you have got to be kidding me!" Remus kicked the post he had been leaning on. He thinks Fabian apologizes, but he's completely wrapped up in his own thoughts, "So I've spent the last six years feeling like I completely betrayed you, when in truth, you...well, I guess technically I still cheated on you, but you were cheating on me as well, just not physically." Remus' anger subsided.

"That's rich, coming from you, who actually did cheat on me." Fabian shot back.

"And I will never stop regretting it, because what we had meant that much to me!" Remus shouted, and then, more quitely, he said, "I just... I wish it had meant something to you, too."

"Remus, are you having me on right now? I loved you!"

"Did you?"

"Yes. We had such an amazing time together. I will never forget all of the game nights, and James forcing us to play that ridiculous game he invented—"

"The Marauders," Remus smiled at the memory.

"Right, the Marauders," Fabian continued, "God, I don't think I will ever forget the night we met. And you wouldn't let me kiss you, remember?"

"Right, because..." Remus started to explain.

"...the moment leading up to the kiss..."

"...should be as good as the kiss itself." Remus finished the thought. He was wholly unprepared for what Fabian did next— he grabbed Remus' jaw, and kissed him, and for a moment, Remus let him. But then Fabian was pulling away.

"Shit. I shouldn't have done that." Remus didn't have a response. "Shit, Rem, I'm sorry, I really did mean it, that I just wanted to catch up. But then I don't know, I always sort of regretted how things ended, and... I don't know...I suppose I needed to be sure, I needed to see you one more time, in order to be sure about Em."

Sirius had a look on his face, the one he got before he did something completely mad, and reckless, and horrible. And so, being the amazing friend that he is, James redirected the conversation again, "I'm sorry Remus, but I just don't believe it. I don't think that Sirius would spend six months, six full months, commuting an hour and a half, to bleeding Glasgow to learn to learn a signature cooking style of a restaurant he doesn't even like so he could win a bet he hadn't even made yet. I know you're a bit mental, Pads, but even you wouldn't put that much effort into a prank." James huffed, "I mean, how could you have possibly...I was the one who said let's go to Shinjitsu..." Sirius sneezed again.

"Bless you," and then, "Padfoot, you bloody bastard. You brilliant arse. You would. You absolutely would. And you've been planning this for a long time." Everyone at the table had turned to James, Remus' encounter with Fabian Prewett forgotten.

"How could Padfoot have..." Peter started to say.

"Every time, I've said suggested we go to Shinjitsu," Sirius sneezed, "Bless you." James continued, "That! you've done exactly that," he pointed at his brother accusatorially," and you've been doing it for the past five years, every time I suggest it, you sneeze, and little by little, you forged the association in my brain, you bastard."

"Christ, when you were sick for a week last year, we got Shinjitsu like six times."

"I am gonna have to walk this earth, knowing that Sirius has touched my boobs." Lily closed her eyes, trying not to think about her current predicament.

"His email reminders don't help." Remus chimed in, remembering some of the email reminders he had received when Sirius was much younger, and way too comfortable sharing the intimate details of his various conquests.

"If you want to call the bet off..."

"Great! The bet's off!"

"Let me finish. If you want to call the bet off, then I get to at least see them, no touching, just looking, for one minute..."

"Thirty seconds."

"For 30 seconds, in a well-lit photography studio..."

"In the alley."

"In the alley..." Sirius continued, " and we'll call the bet off. Do we have a deal?"

Lily paused, "Well..." She liked to think that she was pretty good at reading people, but Lily was currently at a loss. On the one hand, Sirius had a very short attention span. Prior to dating Remus, he had at least snogged most of the female and male population at Hogwarts, and never went on a date with the same person twice. On the other hand, when Sirius put his mind to something, he was like a dog with a bone. Especially when it came to pranks. She had come to learn that for all that he talked about seeing her boobs, Sirius, more or less, thought of her as a sister. Nevertheless, he thought of James as a brother, and when Sirius and Lily had become friendly, but before she and James had gotten together, Sirius had made a big deal about trying to see Lily topless before James, just to take the piss (And truthfully, she had almost let him, because she had thought it was a bit funny too.)

"Well, while Lily thinks about whether or not Sirius, is well, serious, Remus was saying..." And Sirius, for the life of him, could not figure out why Peter cared about Fabian bloody Prewett so much.

"Well, this feels familiar." Remus said, after another moment of awkward silence, "You leaving, me kind of wanting to say, 'Don't go.'" Remus laughed, self-depreciatingly.

"Little late for that."

"Little bit."

"Don't go."

"Remus..."

"I'm sorry. I just...sometimes, I wonder, you know? What if? Because I probably would have married you, back then, if you had asked, and I guess, I just can't help wondering, what if I had...what if?" Remus trailed off. Out of the corner of his eye, he notice a black taxi-cab had pulled up to the kerb.

"Do you really want to know the answer to that?"

Lily must be the most benevolent person in the word. Sirius's face was all scrunched up, the way she knew it did when he was torn between wanting to cry and wanting to punch a wall, "Fine! You can see my boobs Sirius." She cut off Remus, once again. Sirius nearly tipped over, trying to stand, "To the alley!" he declared.

"This seems unfair.I mean, I get that I'm the only person not allowed to see this, but...it just, it-it seems unfair." Peter said, whilst facing the dumpster. James, who was not pleased that he had been duped, had insisted that only Sirius be able to see his wife's breasts. And Remus was also allowed, because he had seen them before, not on purpose, but after living together for several years during Uni, with James and Sirius, he had accidentally walked in on her and James on multiple occasions (Sirius had whinged about it for weeks, 'It's unfair Moony, because I have been trying to see them forever, I once pretended I had a date, when I knew you and Pete wouldn't be home, and tried to catch 'em going at it. And you've just seen them, Moons! Multiple times!' Sirius flopped over the arm of the couch, one arm dramatically covering his face.)

"What's going on? What am I missing? Are they out yet? What do they look like?" Peter interjected once more.

"Do you know how long thirty seconds is?" Remus turned to Sirius, "I mean, I know that seeing Lily's boobs is all you've ever wanted, but this is a bit much, 'innit Pads?"

And then, just as Lily started to pull up her sweater, James exclaimed, "Lily, stop! Don't you see? This was his plan all along! He let us think he knows how to do all this Shinjitsu stuff, just so he could get you out here whipping out your milk-makers!"

"You son of a bitch!" Lily glared at Sirius, Nice try, Black! The bet is back on."

"Perhaps," James gulped, "I underestimated how dedicated Sirius was to seeing my wife's boobs."

"And, that, my dear Prongsie, was your downfall. You should never underestimate a Black, especially me, and especially when I know that I can fuck with you and see a nice pair of tits," he winked at Lily, and then, "Oh, wait! The shrimp in the pocket." He flipped a shrimp onto his spatula, "And now...for one minute on second base...with a firm yet sensual squeeze..." He threw the shrimp into the air. A flurry of movement diverted his attention however, and then, there they were. Shrimp forgotten, Sirius stared at his best friend's wife and her magnificent breasts.

"Ha!" Lily let go of her sweater, and hugged James.

Surprising absolutely no one, Sirius Black was a poor loser, he really hated losing, especially when James was involved, but in all honestly, he wasn't genuinely upset about not getting to touch Lily's breasts, even if Lily, that red-headed she-devil, had cheated. Really, he had come to think of Lily as the sister he never had. They hadn't always gotten along, especially during their time at Hogwarts. But both Sirius and James matured a great deal during Sixth Form, and one night, he hadn't been able to sleep, and so he crept down to the Common Room, so that he could go outside for a fag, but he stopped in his tracks when heard someone sniffling. He turned and saw the red headed girl, sitting in the windowsill, with legs pulled tightly to her chest, eyes all red and puffy, as if she had been crying. A crumpled up paper sat beside her.

"Wotcher, Evans" He wasn't very good at dealing with people when they cried— crying was a sign of weakness, and Blacks simply did not cry, lest they wanted Walburga to give them a reason to really cry. Orion was a very stoic man, and Regulus very quickly learned to suppress his, he kept his expression blank, almost bored, and once he had gotten older, he had stopped sneaking into Sirius's room to cry or laugh, or talk and do everything they could not do while their mother was watching.

"Piss off, Black, I'm not in the mood," Sirius raised both hands, in a 'don't mind me' gesture, and started to walk toward the door to exit the Common Room, but then Lily called out, so quiet that he nearly didn't realize she had said something, "You have a brother, don't you Black?" Sirius' face darkened.

"I don't see how that's really any of your business, Evans." But there was something pitiful about her face, that made Sirius feel just a tad guilty for being so harsh. "Sorry, Evans, I just don't like to talk about him much, is all."

"Right, well, I suppose I was a bit rude too. It's just, did you know I have a sister?" Sirius shook his head, "Right, well, I don't really like to talk about her either. So, erhm, I'm sorry about snapping at you."

"Well, James always says that I can be a right git, and an arse, especially if I've had a row with Reg, so, I suppose I can forgive you this once, Evans." He walked across the room, and crawled up to sit on the windowsill too. The windowsill was rather spacious, but their knees still brushed up against each others.

"Right, well, it's just...my sister and I used to be so close, but then I got accepted to Hogwarts, and well, I suppose she resents me for it, a bit. And our parents didn't make the situation any better, because they were just so proud that I got accepted to such a prestigious school, and with a full-scholarship too. And Tuney...well she was smart enough that she probably would have gotten accepted as well, but she wasn't for some reason, and we were still mostly close, but I just received my acceptance letter for Uni, and so I wrote home to tell mum and dad, and...well Tuney stayed in Cokesworth, for Sixth Form, and then she met this bloke, who she insists is quite lovely, but he's one of those people who believe that women should stay home, bare-footed and pregnant, and all that nonsense." Sirius made a face, "Right? Well, he was quite insistent that she didn't really need to attend any kind of upper-level schooling, and she loves him a lot, but I think she sort of resents me for going, even though she doesn't want to go because Vernon, that's her fiance, doesn't want her to go. He's promised that he'll take care of her, and that all she has to worry about is raising their kid— not that she's even pregnant yet, but I suppose that he wants to get started on that soon. And I don't know why I'm even telling you this, but I just... she's my sister, and it's hard," Lily started to cry again, and Sirius, who was not very good at dealing with people's feelings, understood all to well how Lily was feeling, and pulled her into a hug. And the two of them sat there, for the longest time, until Lily had no more tears left to cry. The sun had only just started to peak over the horizon, when Lily finally extracted herself from Sirius' embrace,

Sirius, trying to lighten the mood, said, "Oi, Evans, you look like a bloody raccoon." This elicited a half-hearted laugh from Lily, as she swatted at his arm (though much more gently than she normally would, when Sirius was being a prat. "Quiet, Sirius." Sirius's started grinning like a madman, "Oh, Sirius is it now Ms. Evans? Just wait till I tell Prongs about this, he's going to be so miffed that I made it to a first-name basis with you before he did,' And at that, Lily cackled, a genuine full-bodied laugh.

Genuinely, Sirius had no real interest in Lily Evans Potter, or her breasts, although he wasn't all that picky when it came to male or female partners, once he realized that James was very much sirius about Lily Evans, most of his flirting in her direction was really for the sole purpose of riling up his brother.

When James and Sirius were eleven, it had taken all of five seconds for James to declare confidently, "Sirius, do you see that gorgeous bird over there? The one with the pretty red-hair? I'm going to marry her one day mate." Sirius, at the time, thought James was a little mental, but he wasn't going to burst James' bubble. Sirius himself couldn't fathom the idea of...well marriage in general, really. They were so young, and really, marriage didn't seem like all that big of a deal. His thoughts drifted to his own parents— the way that they mostly stayed out of each other's way, except during the dinner parties that the Blacks hosted at least once or twice a month. Sirius and Regulus would be forced into dress clothes, hair slicked back, and most importantly, quiet— not to speak unless spoken to. Or, sometimes, Walburga would have Sirius perform for their guests, mostly his father's business associates (many of whom were also members of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black). And then, when Regulus was old enough, he too, was expected to perform, and after, the brothers were expected to play a duet. Walburga had hired a series of very expensive tutors to teach her children to play the piano (Sirius) and the violin (Regulus). She didn't sit in on the boys' lessons often, but every so often she would come in, and demand that they show her what they were learning, and if, for whatever reason, their performance was unsatisfactory, she dismissed the tutor promptly, and would have the next one flown in within the week. And then, she would force whichever child she deemed needed a new tutor, usually Sirius, to practice for even longer, often withholding dinner until she was satisfied that they had mastered the piece (and often, on those nights, she would call in their servant, Kreacher, to supervise, and Sirius would play, and play, until his fingers were numb, and the notes on the sheet music were all jumbled together. Walburga herself, was also expected to be silent, unless spoken to. Her job, was to stand next to Orion, and drape herself over his arm, a jewel whose shine reflected on her husband. Of course, she was permitted to speak, even if not spoken to, if it was related to the family— Orion's latest success at work, or Orion's promotion, Regulus' good grades, or Regulus teaching himself French— and her plans to hire a tutor, even though Regulus was nearly fluent. Since the Blacks could easily afford it, and so Regulus' ability to speak French nearly fluently was something that Walburga was allowed to discuss— as it was an example of how naturally gifted her children were, and a reminder that the Blacks were very, very well off. She never said much about Sirius, especially after he was expelled from Ilvermony— a school that every single member of the Black family had attended for almost a century. And oh, how Orion had raged, and thrown his money about, and threatened the administration, threatened to pull their donations, but even Orion's status and wealth was not enough. And so, Walburga and Orion had shipped him off to Hogwarts— an illustrious school in its own right, but not good enough for the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, because of how many scholarships it offered to students. Hogwarts was well known for its efforts to accommodate students financially— especially the incredibly bright students, that likely would have gone to places like Ilvermony, or Durmstrang even, except for the fact that neither headmaster at either Ilvermony or Durmstrang was quite as open minded as the Headmaster at Hogwarts, and generally didn't offer any scholarships to students, no matter how intelligent. There was a brief period of time, before Regulus started learning to play the violin, but after Sirius had already been playing the piano for two years, during which Walburga would talk about Sirius and how his tutors were saying that he was a child prodigy in the making. She would gloat about how he could read sheet music, but he could also play by ear, and hardly needed to practice a piece before mastering it. But as Sirius grew older, and more rebellious, and his younger brother more willing to bend to their mother's will, Walburga slowly stopped talking about Sirius entirely.

Sirius was brought back to reality, as Peter prompted Remus to finish telling them about his encounter with Fabian Prewett.

"No," Remus admitted, as he wasn't sure he wanted the answer, "because I think the answer just might kill me."

Fabian's smile was sad, "Goodbye, Remus."

"And that was it. He got into his cab and left." Remus shrugged. Lily put a hand on his shoulder, "It's alright love, it was just one of those situations where the timing was never quite right for you. You, Remus Lupin, are going to find a partner who loves you so, so much. Someone who thinks the world of you." Remus smiled glumly, his smile not quite reaching his eyes.

"Right, well, it's getting late lads. Perhaps we should head out. Sirius has a meeting at 9:00, and Lily you've got that Doctor's Appointment at 11:00, and I've got a deadline coming up so I really should get working on that tomorrow." Remus started to collect his coat. The other four friends stood up as well. Peter hailed a cab, to take him back to his flat in Greenwhich. Lily and James also hailed a cab, to take them to their brownstone in Islington. Remus, who in a flat near Victoria Park, decided that he'd would rather walk. The weather was cool, but not so cold that it was unpleasant. Sirius, for whatever reason, had not gotten into the cab with James and Lily, even though he also had a flat in Islington. Instead, Sirius decided that he needed to walk Remus home, as if Remus was some sort of Damsel-in-Distress.

They fell into a comfortable silence, but after walking for about ten minutes, Remus stops walking abruptly.

"I didn't tell the others everything, about that evening." And Sirius tries to keep a neutral expression, "Oh?"

"Yes, well...he said..."

"Okay, yes, "Remus blurted out, "What's the answer?" not fully confident that he did want to know the answer, but also not wanting to spend the next six years wondering, What if?

"There is a reason that it didn't work out between you and me, but it wasn't Germany. And it wasn't Emmeline. And I'm willing to bet it's the same reason none of your other relationships in the past six years have lasted either," he paused, "It's Sirius."

"No." And Remus couldn't quite wrap his head around what Sirius had to do with Remus' relationship with Fabian.

"Yes, Remus. He is such an important part of your life, perhaps more than you realize. I noticed it, when we first started seeing each other, but we got along so well, and it seemed like we'd be a good fit, and I thought that maybe, after some time, that I could become what Sirius was— what Sirius still is to you. Remus I loved you, really I did, but I couldn't fathom doing this thing that you all do, you and Sirius, and James and Lily, where you all hang out at the Three Broomsticks, night in and night out, like we hadn't been lovers for the better part of almost three years. Even Black doesn't see Marlene that often— sure, they're on good terms, and aside from you, she's about the most serious relationship he ever had, despite the fact that during the second year of that relationship, Sirius really just let McKinnon say that she was off with him, even though she was really off with Dorcas Meadows, and just wasn't ready to come out yet. And I know for a fact that, if I hadn't moved, even though I wanted to propose, there was a small part of me that had just knew that I could never be what Sirius is to you, And honestly Remus, I'm glad that you have someone like that, someone who loves you as much as you deserve, even if it isn't me."

"Fabian, you've got it all wrong— Sirius and I are just mates, I mean, we gave it a go, we tried dating for a bit, and it barely lasted a year, before we called things off. I think we nearly destroyed our friendship, really. We didn't go to the Three Broomsticks for months, until James decided that he had had enough of 'the two of us acting like complete berks, and honestly, the two of you are my best mates, and at the end of the day, you two were mates too, before you got together, you were mates first, and I'm not asking you to become besties overnight, but I miss my best friends, and I miss going to the Three Broomsticks with you all, so I am begging you guys, to just try and be friends again.'"

"Remus, I know you've always had a little trouble believing people when told you they love you, but trust me when I say that Sirius Black's entire world revolves around you. I'm not exaggerating when I say that man would rip out his own heart with his bear hands, if you asked."

"Fabian..."

"Goodbye Remus."

"Oh, well, I'm sorry that he felt that way. And you know, I could fuck off, maybe spend some time in Thailand with Regulus, or something, if you think it might help convince Fabian to—"

"Jesus Christ Pads, what the hell is wrong with you?" A flash of hurt, and then Sirius face changed into a blank, almost bored expression. Remus had never been quite unfortunate enough to meet Orion or Walburga Black, but he had seen this face on Sirius on several times. And Regulus, it seemed, had adopted the blank, almost bored look, as a his default facial expression. Regulus, who was not quite as rebellious as Sirius, but who had also tried to put some distance between himself and the rest of the Black family once he had turned eighteen. Regulus had drained all of the money from his trust fund, and moved to a flat in Islington as well. The Black brothers were not particularly close, but it was clear that they were trying to mend the relationship between them that had been broken by Walburga and Orion's A+ parenting. They didn't spend holidays together, but Sirius made a point to stop by Regulus' flat to exchange gifts, and remind him that he was welcome at the Potters, if he'd like. And Regulus always declined, but made a point to try and stop by Sirius' flat at least once a month; Regulus had recently adopted a dog, a black German Shepard, which Sirius had named Snuffles, much to his brother's chagrin. But, Regulus made no attempt to call the dog by any other name, and he had started dropping by Sirius' flat a little more often, if he happened to pass by while walking Snuffles.

"Sirius, I didn't tell you that because I want you to fuck off." And that got Sirius' attention, "I told you, because I realized that Fabian had a point."

"But, you said you— you said you loved him! And then you said would have married him. And you asked him to stay." Sirius was trying very hard to maintain his composure, Blacks did not cry, and they absolutely did not let other people see that they had ripped his heart out of his chest, and then smashed it into millions of tiny shards. He was so confused, because for a moment, just a fleeting moment, he had let himself believe that Moony was saying what he wanted him to since they broke up. On the other hand, he had spent the past hour or two thinking that Moony was going to run off to Germany with Fabian bloody Prewett.

"And then I realized that I really, really didn't. I mean I did, at one time, but it's always been you Sirius. And I know that I am the one who broke us up, but I couldn't stand the thought of holding you back, and, I was still feeling so guilty about Fabian, and I wasn't fully convinced that I wasn't in the midst of a fever dream, and I let my brain convince me that you deserved so much more than what I could give you. And so I pushed you away. And maybe, I also did need to see Fabian again, to get closure. Because when he left for Germany, I thought that it would be hard, but that he would come back to me. And then, I started falling for you— or well, I don't know if I started falling for you, because you and I have always had this connection that I don't quite know how to explain. But I guess I realized what that meant, and I just wasn't ready for you. For us. And, you have every right to tell me to piss off, because I know that I was the one who fucked everything up between us. Because I wasn't strong enough to say no to you, even though I wasn't ready for another serious relationship quite yet. But I was selfish, because somewhere deep inside, I knew that you could be my forever-person." Remus finally worked up the nerve, to lift his head and look at Sirius. Sirius' piercing gray eyes met Remus', and then he was surging forward, capturing Remus' lips with his own. And Remus couldn't quite contain the swell of emotions he felt, as tears began to well up in his eyes, threatening to spill over, as he moved so that one of his hands became tangled in Sirius' hair, and the other was firmly pressed against Sirius' lower back, pulling him as close as physically possible.

When they finally separated, Remus started to apologize once more, "I really am sorry for how daft I've been, Pads." Sirius shushed him, "Hush Moons, we have plenty of time to sort everything out. But for now, I just want...to be here, in this moment, with you. Because I've missed you. And I had half a mind to march into your flat and tell you off. But, I was afraid. Because I had convinced myself that I wasn't good enough for you— the most brilliant person I know. And I mean, I know I'm not a complete berk—" "Debatable." "Hush Moony, let me finish my dramatic confession of love. I didn't interrupt you while you were confessing your undying love for me, you prick. Anyways, I suppose I always just felt like we were polar opposites. And that one day you'd get sick of putting up with my compulsiveness, and my short fuse, and my punch first, questions later attitude, and my, what did you call it again? 'Complete and utter recklessness and general disregard for my own safety.' I figured someone would come along, someone more bookish, and swotty, who could talk about Dumas, or Homer, or whatever, someone who is just as passionate about your books as you are. And so I thought that maybe I should be mature, for once, and set you free. But really, I was just afraid— afraid to fight for you, because Moony, if I did, and you didn't want to fight for us too? It would have killed me." Sirius closed his eyes, and turned away so he wasn't looking at Remus. "So instead, I let you push me away. Because being in your life, even just as your friend, was better than knowing that you didn't want me too."

"Oh Pads..." Remus launched himself at the other man, wrapping him in his arms, and just enjoying the other man's embrace. Their relationship, Remus knew, wouldn't magically fix itself overnight, but they had plenty of time to talk— about them, about the future, about everything— but for now, Remus was content to bury his face in his lover's neck and revel in his warm embrace. And for the first time in a long time, Remus felt like everything was going to be just fine.